Kendra Morris

Kendra Morris’s LP Nine Lives, due to be released on Karma Chief Records on 18 February, marks not only the culmination of the decade since the release of her first LP Banshee, but also a turning point in Kendra’s life professionally and personally. We caught up with her to learn a little more about the record.

The last couple of years have been tough on the music world. How has it impacted on you personally?

It's definitely made me learn to be a little more patient and has reminded me that I can't control everything and that's ok! Sometimes when you stop trying to force things and just go with the flow, everything begins to fall into place in it's own way. It's also pushed me to try new things or when I feel like I've hit a wall, I realize that you can always go over, under or around.


A decade has now passed since your debut album, Banshee. Looking back, what lessons did the album teach you?

Banshee taught me that being honest in music will take you far. I can't believe it's been almost 10 years! I still have people that message or approach me about how much they have enjoyed that album and although I feel like I've grown in a lot of ways through my experiences and as an artist, I was honest about where I was at the time and those feelings weren't unique to myself. Maybe also why that album has held up is because I've never tried to follow a specific music trend or a particular style because it's what's in.. I like good melodies and telling stories.

How have your ambitions altered since the success of Banshee?

No alterations, only elaborations! I've always made music because it makes me happy. It's a language for me. I would do it for 2 people, 10, 1000, 1,000,000 etc. I do it because expressing myself through creating is a part of me . Being able to connect with people through music has been amazing. Sure, it feels good to hear from someone 'Hey, I like your songs!' it feels even better to hear 'Hey, that song you did helped me, I was there too. ' . I hope to connect with people through this record like I did with Banshee and more. I also am avid about exploring other artistic outlets because they all lead back to one another. I really like talking about and doing that with my own artistic endeavours. When people say.. "oh I'm not good at anything or I don't have a creative bone in my body. " I want to shake them.. of course you do! It's a gift to us as humans. It's just that it's a muscle you have to constantly work out!

You are now signed to a different label, how has that altered your creative process?

I'm now signed with Karma Chief Records and previously I was on Wax Poetics. I have been so lucky to have worked with labels that have listened to me, trusted my instincts as well as I've trusted theirs. I feel like that is the importance of doing your label research. Finding the right fit and a team of people with honest intentions. When there is trust and you work together as a team, creating and reaching goals together are endless and rewarding!

Your new studio album, Nine Lives, is out soon. What can your audience expect?

Both sonically and lyrically it has a lot of layers. I've always been obsessed with multiple vocal parts going on throughout a song and I only went further down the rabbit-hole with those arrangements in Nine Lives. I think Jeremy ran with that same way of thinking in regards to the instrumentals.

The album is rich in sound and personal experience, how did you approach writing it?

I co-wrote the record with Jeremy Page who I wrote Banshee with. The benefit of working with the same person for a number of years is that we have created some good work habits as well as a system of the way we like to do things. For Nine Lives, even before we realized Nine Lives was what we were working on; we would work together a few days a week at his studio. Most of the time Jeremy would have little bits of a sonic idea started and then I'd sit in my usual spot in the room and pull out my notebook and just listen for a melody or a garbled phrase in my head and from there it was like a map for me. From there i'd lay an idea out in the booth then I'd come out and he'd add to the idea with chords and adding or subtracting instruments and it'd be a game of back and forth. I'd form fragments of the lyrics by drawing from personal experiences or something that had struck me while I was recently out and let all the absorbing I had been doing run out into the beginnings of a song. Sometimes I'd bring an idea home with me and just keep listening, scribbling down ideas while riding the subway, at a coffee shop, before falling asleep. Whatever it took to get it to where it felt completed.

What are your hopes and expectations for the album?

I hope this album finds its way to more new fans and people that will embrace it. It's scary pulling and putting feelings on parade, but I have to remember and remind myself that I'm not alone in them. It's a weird time where we pick and choose how we want people to see us. We filter ourselves, literally! It's easy to become resentful of each other because we constantly compare ourselves or feel alone but I have to remember to take away all that outside stuff and we're all just on our own individual journeys trying to make sense of what it all means and where we're going.

Which song are you most excited for people to hear?

I've been listening and relistening to it recently and it keeps changing . Today I'm really feeling the song Dry. I love the movement in it and the synths and sax solo during the breakdown. I imagine I'm running down on an abandoned neon road some late night in the early eighties!

Over the years, you have been involved in a few collaborations. Who do you still dream of working with?

Hmmm I'd love to get in a room with Dangermouse, Thom Yorke. I'd love to build a track from the ground up with Premier. I could probably name and name some more. It's funny.. Dangermouse actually used to be a regular at a bar I worked at in the East Village and I was always trying to get the guts up to say.. hey Brian! Can we work together??!!!

And finally, are there any plans to take the album on the road?

Absolutely gotta take the album on the road! I love performing live. It's an experience like nothing else when you are having that one of a kind exchange of energy with your audience. I think it's important to take a project on the road and connect with as many people as you can when the timing.. and money (because touring is insanely expensive) makes sense and all the pieces come together.